HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE EAST a Research Project of Fairleigh Dickinson University by Amanuel Ajawin Amer Al-Hajri Waleed Al-Saiyani Hamad Al-Zaabi Baya Bensmail Clotilde Ferry Feridun Kul Gabriela Garcia Zina Ibrahem Lorena Giminez Jose Manuel Mendoza-Nasser Abdelghani Merabet Alice Mungwa Isabelle Rakotoarivelo Seddiq Rasuli Antonio Nico Sabas Coumba Santana Ashley Toth Fabrizio Trezza Sharif Ahmad Waheedi Mohammad Fahim Yarzai Mohammad Younus Zaidullah Zaid Editor: Ahmad Kamal Published by: Fairleigh Dickinson University 1000 River Road Teaneck, NJ 07666 USA January 2012 ISBN: 978-1-4507-9087-1 The opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors alone, and should not be taken as necessarily reflecting the views of Fairleigh Dickinson University, or of any other institution or entity. © All rights reserved by the authors No part of the material in this book may be reproduced without due attribution to its specific author. THE AUTHORS Amanuel Ajawin, a Diplomat from Sudan Amer Al-Hajri, a Diplomat from Oman Waleed Al-Saiyani, a Graduate Student from Yemen Hamad Al-Zaabi, a Diplomat from the UAE Baya Bensmail, a Diplomat from Algeria Clotilde Ferry, a Graduate Student from Monaco Ahmad Kamal, a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Feridun Kul, a Graduate Student from Afghanistan Gabriela Garcia, a Diplomat from Ecuador Lorena Giminez, a Diplomat from Venezuela Zina Ibrahem, a Civil Servant from Iraq Jose Manuel Mendoza, a Graduate Student from Honduras Abdelghani Merabet, a Graduate Student from Algeria Alice Mungwa, a Graduate Student from Cameroon Isabelle Rakotoarivelo, a Civil Servant from Madagascar Seddiq Rasuli, a Graduate Student from Afghanistan Antonio Nico Sabas, a Graduate Student from the USA Coumba Santana, a Graduate Student from Mali Ashley Toth, a Graduate Student from the USA Fabrizio Trezza, a Graduate Student from Italy Sharif Ahmad Waheedi, a Graduate Student from Afghanistan Mohammad Fahim Yarzai, a Diplomat from Afghanistan Mohammad Younus, a Graduate Student from Afghanistan Zaidullah Zaid, a Graduate Student from Afghanistan INDEX OF CONTENTS Title Page INTRODUCTION by Ahmad Kamal 01 COLONIZATION by Abdelghani Merabet 03 WOMEN AND EDUCATION by Mohammad Younus 15 HUMAN TRAFFICKING by Coumba Santana 27 RELATIONS WITH AFRICA by Alice Mungwa 33 AFGHANISTAN by Feridun Kul 41 ARMENIA by Antonio Nico Sabas 49 CYPRUS by Isabelle Rakotoarivelo 53 EGYPT by Fabrizio Trezza 59 IRAN by Baya Bensmail 73 IRAQ by Zina Ibrahem 83 ISRAEL by Lorena Giminez 95 JORDAN by Clotilde Ferry 109 KUWAIT by Mohammad Fahim Yarzai 119 LEBANON by Zaidullah Zaid 129 MOROCCO AND WESTERN SAHARA by Gabriela Garcia 139 OMAN by Jose Manuel Mendoza 155 QATAR by Waleed Al-Saiyani 163 SAUDI ARABIA by Sharif Ahmed Waheedi 173 SOMALIA by Ashley Toth 185 SOUTH SUDAN by Amanuel Ajawin 195 SYRIA by Seddiq Rasuli 205 TURKEY by Hamad Al-Zaabi 217 YEMEN by Amer Al-Hajri 229 Introduction Ahmad Kamal INTRODUCTION How Sultan after Sultan, With all his pomp and sway, Abode his destined hour, And went his way. - The Rubayyat of Omar Khayyam The unexpected speed of fundamental changes in the Middle East has caught almost all by surprise. Perhaps the most surprised were the autocratic leaders themselves who had built up the status quo in their respective fiefdoms on faulty notions of personal infallibility and unquestioning stability, forgetting the lessons of history about the inevitability of change. Much of this frozen nature of the Middle East was also due to the encouragement and support of external powers, which drew great political and economic benefits from these stable structures, and frequently spent billions to sustain them. In many ways, therefore, the long rule of non-democratic regimes over decades resulted from both internal and external factors. The changes that have now come have thus been initiated by the forgotten and trodden populations of these countries - young, jobless, frustrated, and angry. Using the latest social media instruments at their disposal, they have shown an astonishing degree of resilience in the face of powerful and violent governmental agencies. In the ultimate analysis, democratic depth has overtaken dictatorial weight, and in the process reinstated our faith in equity and justice. However strong the winds of change might be, the fact remains that most of the problems of the Middle East accrue from a sad colonial past, in which European powers arrogantly inserted themselves into the region, and carved it up among themselves without any respect for human rights or human dignity. So the revolutionary change that is taking place is not only going to affect the regional countries themselves, but also those who were guilty in the first place of the greatest crime against humanity that colonialism constituted. The chicken always come home to roost. 1 Introduction Ahmad Kamal The papers that follow have been prepared by a group of independent researchers in an effort to conduct an impartial analysis of the impact of the past history of the region, and of each country in the region, on its present and its future. A deliberate attempt has been made not to be overly influenced by the most recent events covered by the media, but rather to delve deeper into the historical factors that underlie the local cultures, and determine and explain their reactions. There can be no doubt that the changes that we are witnessing go well beyond the Middle East. They represent the search for values and justice of peoples in a fundamentally materialistic world, one in which the main actors have forgotten all the principles which they so repeatedly proclaim, but which they do not practice at all. That is why the questioning that has started in the Middle East will spread far beyond the region, as is already visible elsewhere even in the most developed countries of the world as they struggle to re-insert some modicum of balance and stability in the shattered confidence of their own peoples. It is just as clear that the changes have not yet played themselves out. Genuine revolutions normally result in prolonged periods of excess, and it is only after much time that the true forces that underlie the movements stabilize themselves. That process can take decades or more, as we can see from earlier revolutions. That is indeed the lesson of history, and we would all do well to tone down our immediate reactions to the current events, and let time pass so that future historians can draw the true picture of what is happening. Meanwhile, those who are so quick in passing judgments from lofty pedestals, and voicing their critical opinions about the Middle East, would do well to look at the moat in their own eyes before they do so. We are all going through a period of intrinsic change in the world, in which all will be affected. Since change is an intrinsic part of human history, we should welcome the opportunity of being witnesses to it. We are in a crisis of radical proportions, but one in which the clouds of darkness will inevitably open up to brightness and light. So, the crisis of today represents the opportunity for tomorrow. Even in these troubled times there are grounds for enlightened optimism. 2 Colonization Abdelghani Merabet COLONIZATION Editor’s Note: No analysis of the status of the Middle East today is possible without delving deep into the sad story of Western colonialism, and its impact on local politics, economics, and culture. How and why that colonialism of a small minority succeeded in its domination of such a large majority is a matter that warrants further analysis. The fact remains that the impact of that colonial past continues, and forms the essential background against which the current unfolding events should be seen. Introduction: While the origin of colonization can be traced back to when City States such as Greece and Phoenicia established colonies over the Mediterranean Sea to maintain their military and commercial influence, the major waves of colonization really occurred during the middle of the 19th Century. Europe witnessed a tremendous demographic growth due to the emergence of the industrial revolution, mainly in England and France. These factors lead to a strong sense of competition between the main European powers to enhance their influence globally. This competing trend to acquire larger territories started at the beginning of the 19th Century and involved a lot of actors such as England, France, unified Germany and Italy. The European powers created myths such as the “civilization of barbarian populations” to advance their purposes. However, the main objective was to control the natural and human resources, to enlarge market capabilities for their own flourishing industries, and to take control of strategic positions and the main routes for trade. The discriminatory practices and the disastrous humanitarian consequences on indigenous populations testify to the level of vandalism that European colonial powers exercised. Nobel Laureate for literature, Mario Vargas Llosa, in his last novel “El Sueno del Celta” describes the atrocities and unforgivable inhuman and barbarian practices by Leopold II of Belgium in Congo. Similar practices were carried out by other colonizers. 3 Colonization Abdelghani Merabet The Middle East in pre-colonial era The decline of the Ottoman Empire Since the emergence of Islam in the Middle East, the inhabitants have happily accepted successive Caliphates and Dynasties (Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, Mamluk and Ottoman) that have allowed a coherent ideological evolution of the region despite the fact that they belonged to a varied group of ethnicities or religious orientations (Sunnite, Shiite). The last indigenous Islamic Empire within the region, the Ottoman Empire, attained its apogee era between 1453 and 1683. It expanded its dominance over North Africa, created a naval presence over the Red Sea, gained control of Mesopotamia and naval access to the Persian Golf and became the main naval force controlling much of the Mediterranean Sea.